


Gloomy Day

by RiversWritings



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Bookstore Owner Seokjin, Cute, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Literature, The Great Gatsby References, bookstore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-14 16:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13594413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiversWritings/pseuds/RiversWritings
Summary: Sometimes it's just faith, sometimes it's rain.





	Gloomy Day

The delicious, bitter, yet inviting smell of coffee mixed with an earthy, musky vanilla like aroma, grazed Jin’s senses as he was standing on a high ladder, hands full of books he needed to categorize. His long brown coat was collecting the dust of the upper shelves, little dust flakes floating in the air and landing on his new round spectacles. The never ending pile of old, used books was staring at him, begging to be loved. This small, confined bookstore had held so many memories throughout the years. It became a local tourist spot and even though sometimes there was not enough space for all the interested minds to feast on theirs curiosity, it was strangely lonely most of the time. **  
**

“The old bookshop needs some love”, Jin said when he stepped through the front door for the first time, a year ago, after the sudden death of it’s previous keeper.

He threw his coat onto the nearby stool, locked the front door and put up a sign that said CLOSED. Piles of books were everywhere, not just neatly sitting in their rightful places, but on the floor, on top of old chairs and old desks, collecting dust and some even rotting away. He pulled his sleeves up to this elbows and dug inside the old treasure with great determination. It took him almost two weeks to organize the little bookstore to some degree, dusting, vacuuming, wiping the dust and repeating it over again. And now, 365 days after, this place felt like home.

A month ago, on a gloomy, storm filled monday, a girl barged into the dark bookstore. Jin, who was slowly sipping on his cup of coffee, rereading one of his favourite books, Robinson Crusoe, didn’t even notice someone had walked in. He was so enticed with the story, the sound of the doorbell escaped him. The girl was drenched from rain, the umbrella she held in her hand, twisted and broken from the wind. A sudden squeak of her rain boots broke Jin’s focus and diverted his his attention to the front door.

“Welcome to The Old Tales bookstore, my name is Jin. If you need anything, I am here.”

The girl took one step forward, closer to Jin, who was sitting behind an old bronze register, holding a cup in front of his lips, slowly blowing off the steam. She placed the broken umbrella into the holder next to the door and removed the hood from her head. Rain drops from the tips of her hair were dripping onto the old brown carpet and she was shivering from the cold.

As she was shakingly unbuttoning her drenched coat, she felt someone approaching. Jin was walking from the register towards her, with a cup in his hands. He stopped right in front of her, his arms stretched before him.

“Coffee?”, he asked.

The girl smiled faintly and wrapped her fingers around the warm cup.

“Thanks, always needed. Coffee, that is”, she said.

“Yes, I got that”, Jin chuckled quietly.

“You can throw the coat on the radiator there”, he pointed and started walking back to the register.

“Oh, and the coffee is fresh, don’t worry. It looks like you need something warm to drink.”

“Uhm, Jin? It is Jin, right?”, she asked and Jin turned around.

“Yeah. Jin, that is”, he answered with a smile, and sat back down. His spectacles were back on his face and Robinson Crusoe back in his hand, waiting to be read.

“Thanks. Oh, Is Robinson Crusoe your fave?”

Jin smiled faintly and placed the book down. He looked at the girl who was curiously moving from one bookshelf to another, flipping through pages of different books. It seemed like she was searching for something specific.

“It’s up there, but no. My favorite is actually The Great Gatsby.”

As soon Jin mouthed those words she stopped moving. Nothing but her head that was peeking from behind the giant bookcase was visible.

“Really?”, she asked playfully and placed the empty coffee cup onto the little club table.

“I don’t think we have one, I sold the last one yesterday. And yes, really.”

The disappointing look on her face was enough for him, to know that the book she’s been searching for was in fact The Great Gatsby.

“I am one of the few honest-”, Jin started, while scribbling something onto the paper.

“-people that I have ever known”, she finished, staring out of the window, looking at the pouring rain.

And so she stayed for a while, unable to leave because of the storm outside. Jin was getting more and more intrigued by her, everything about the way she expressed herself, how she talked about books and writing made him extremely infatuated by her and the way of thinking. Sometimes he wasn’t even listening to her stories, it felt like he was daydreaming next to her and the contagious smile she had, she was unique and really beautiful. They were talking about The Great Gatsby for hours, debating about every single detail. And when she left at the first peak of the sunshine, not knowing what her name was, he felt devastated. A customer came into the store, looking for a book. In the midst of Jin trying to help this very rude man, she left. Not even saying goodbye.

He was now standing on the top of the ladder, categorizing his final few books, when one of them fell on the ground. With a loud grunt he climbed down, picked the book up and dusted it, into his long brown coat. There was no title on the front page, so he grabbed it into his palms and flipped through the pages.

“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity”, was the first sentence he read from the book and smirked.

“The Great Gatsby is following me everywhere”, he said and placed the novel on his desk, next to his coffee.

  
A sudden thunder was heard from the outside and the sky was full of dark clouds. The rain started pouring from nowhere, surprising Jin. He sat back down behind the register, grabbed the loved book and put on his spectacles. As soon as he started reading, the entrance of the shop opened and this time he heard the bell.

The atmosphere at that moment was making him nervous, but everything changed when he heard the familiar squeak of those same rain boots.

It was her.


End file.
